You Mean Something
by NellietheMarvelous
Summary: When Lisbon hurts herself tackling a suspect and the only semi-comfortable spot is the couch in her office, what does Jane do to help?: Won Best Beginning in the 2009 Jellies over on jello-forever.


**Disclaimer: Not owning it.**

**A/N: Okay, so I was working on updating my Bones stories, (still workin on that) and this popped into my head. Right now I'm having some pain problems in my shoulder, pinched and inflamed nerves are very painful. Anyway so I came up with this. Call it incorporating real life into art. Typing is pretty hard to do right now but I'm gritting my teeth and dealing with it. I hope you like this. Oh and the new Chapter of Minisodes should be up tonight, all I have to do is locate the file :).**

Sometimes taking down a suspect had consequences, like today for example. Lisbon had taken down a three hundred pound man using mainly the force of her right shoulder. That probably hadn't been her best idea ever. The ache that presented itself had started as a dull throb, more annoying than painful so she had ignored it and continued to work through the day unfazed. A few hours passed before it turned into an unpleasant sharp stabbing pain with every breath she took. Every small movement of her arm caused discomfort. Sitting upright proved to be an issue, as did walking around. Nothing was comfortable enough to ease the ache at all.

Driving around all day tracking down leads had not helped much either. She had actually, willingly let Jane drive after the first stop. Surprisingly he had just silently taken the keys without ribbing her about it. She had expected him to make a witty remark but he didn't. Knowing Jane, he probably knew exactly why she had relinquished control of the vehicle. She hated that he could read her so easily when she never had a clue what he was thinking. They had driven back in a comfortable quiet that consisted of occasional small talk but mostly just silence. Jane had seemed to understand that she was hurting and chose to keep all sarcasm to himself, opting for worrisome glances instead. She had ignored the looks, refusing to let herself think that he cared but deep down she knew he did to a certain degree. Thoughts were dangerous when they involved Patrick Jane, you could get tangled up in him so easily and she didn't need a headache too.

The couch in the corner of her office was starting to look more and more inviting with each passing second and finally she gave in. It had to be more bearable than this. There had to be some way to sit or lay that could help a little. She found out quickly that lying on your back was not the way to go so she rolled onto her left side. Surprisingly the pain started to dissipate as long as her arm was straight and resting against her body for support. Not the most comfortable position to be in, but she'd rather deal with awkwardness than with mind numbing pain. Although it had helped, it still hurt to breathe deeply.

Closing her eyes, she let each shallow breath out slowly before carefully inhaling again. Maybe after a few minutes she'd be able to get up and go back to the paperwork littering her desk but for now this was the only thing that had helped. The noise of the door opening made her groan, she knew who it was and she wasn't in the mood to deal with him right now. Cracking open an eye, her suspicions were confirmed.

"Lisbon, are you alright?" He sounded genuinely worried so she chose not to yell at him for barging in without knocking. She wanted to be left alone, but at the same time she was too tired and in pain to care enough to actually tell him to get out.

"I'm fine Jane." Careful not to move her arm, she tried to sit up but failed when the first sharp pain hit. Falling back against the cushions, she tried to hide her weakness from him but it didn't work. It never did.

"No you're not. I brought you something." Intrigued by his statement she watched as he smiled brightly and outstretched both hands revealing two Ibuprofen tablets, a bottle of water and a small bag of chips. "These won't make the pain go away, but they might take some of the edge off." The fluttering in her chest at his obvious concern made her uncomfortable in his presence but she took the stuff from him anyway.

"Cool Ranch Doritos?" Making an effort to try a sitting position once again she was shocked when he reached out to help by gently pulling her up. She could tell by his touch that he was scared of hurting her.

"You love them, and you need to eat something before swallowing those pills." She looked up into his eyes from her position on the couch and inwardly smiled at his form towering over her. When he had walked in she was so dead set on wanting him to leave, but that had quickly changed. Now she didn't want him to go anywhere. She patted the spot next to her in silent invitation for him to join her and smiled when he did.

"I could have went and got all this myself."

"A simple thank you would suffice Lisbon and we both know you would have just continued to lie here in pain." Something about the way his eyes sparkled in the dim light of her office made her completely forget about arguing with him. Her shoulder needed to get better fast, it was starting to mess with her brain and with Jane around that was never safe.

"Thank you." Tearing her gaze away from his smiling face she opened the chips, hoping to distract herself with eating.

"You should see a doctor." There was something about the way he touched her hand that sent chills down her spine. Pain affected her in weird ways, it had her thinking she should just agree and let him take her. Shoving a chip into her mouth, she stared at the bottle of water sitting in her lap, trying to gain some control of the situation.

"I'm fine."

"Lisbon I'm serious. See a doctor." She knew she was in trouble now, he had used that voice. The one that proved he cared, the one that was soft and soothing, yet dripping with authority. This was why she had issues with him, problems. He challenged her in ways she wasn't used to. She was used to having the authority, to being the boss and he took that away by undermining her constantly. He could be so irritatingly stubborn and she hated it. So why was she contemplating kissing him right here in her office?

"Your concern is very touching but I'm fine." Twisting open the cap of the water bottle, she popped the pills into her mouth and took a long cooling gulp.

"You're not fine. If you were, then you wouldn't be lying on your couch in the only comfortable position you could find."

"Jane..." Her protests were stopped by the touch of his warm hand to her cheek. Was the pain making her delusional or was he really that close? His face seemed only inches away but that couldn't be right.

"I don't like the thought of you hurting. Physically or any other kind of way." His admission took her by surprise. Jane was never one to talk about feelings but here he was opening up because he wanted her to go see a doctor. Different emotions were controlling her body, making her wonder if this was real or if it was only a dream.

"What?" A blush lit up her face as the confusion set in. She didn't know why he was saying the things he was saying but she couldn't care less. Maybe later she'd take the time to figure it out but right now it just felt good to hear him say them.

"You heard me." Jane was surprised that she hadn't kicked him out by now. He wouldn't have left anyway but usually she at least tried to put up a good fight. Today there was nothing, no fight in her at all which worried him. This was not his Lisbon. "Believe it or not, you mean something to me." Under normal circumstances she probably would have flinched away when he tried to caress her cheek. Today she was letting him. He knew it wasn't the most opportune moment but he needed her to know that he cared. Hopefully she'd leave it at that but he knew there was no way the curiosity in Lisbon would let him off the hook easily.

"I mean something?" He smiled at the shock evident in her tone. Obviously he had been successful at hiding his emotions. The hand that was resting against her cheek dropped reluctantly.

"Let me take you to the..."

"No. If it's not any better in a couple days I'll go. Stop avoiding the question." She was way too stubborn for her own good sometimes. Instead of answering her he leaned in and placed a lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth. He hadn't expected to get caught up in the feeling, but her hand came up to rest against his chest as she turned her body to face him. When he pulled back green eyes met green-blue for all of two seconds before he leaned back in to capture her lips. Forgetting about the rest of the world for a few minutes, Jane was careful not to hurt her as he tugged her closer wanting to make it known exactly how much she really did mean to him.

**A/N: Yeah, it was pretty much a plotless one shot, but I thought it was a good one. By the way I'm all loopy on pain meds so I have no idea if what I just wrote is what I intended to write. I have a feeling it probably wasn't. oops. All mistakes are my own, if you point them out I will fix them.:) **


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